AN ATP MASTERS SERIES EVENT
11th - 19th OCTOBER
MMMM 2006 : 2006
Nalbandian wins Madrid marathon as Masters Cup chase tightens
David Nalbandian edged closer to a possible place in the season championships as he won only his second match against Marat Safin to advance 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-2) into the semi-finals to the Madrid Masters Friday.
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The Argentine fourth seed came into the match with a 1-6 record against the Spanish-speaking Russian, a clear crowd favourite at the Madrid arena. The win is two hours 58 minutes nudged Nalbandian up two places to sixth in the chase for one of the place in the eight-man Masters Cup in Shanghai. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the top two in the world, are the only men to have so far qualified with this weekend and two more weeks left in the ATP season. Safin nearly overcame a performance which was riddled with 74 unforced errors, but helped by 21 aces. The Russian came back twice in the second set from a break down, levelling the sets with a tiebreak and saving a Nalbandian match point. As the contest went into a third set, the intensity increased. Safin was unpopularly denied what looked both be a match point of his own in the 12th game as the Hawk-eye line-calling system saw his return just out on a challenge from Nalbandian. That decision forced another tiebreaker, with the Argentine claiming the win on the first of four additional match points. Nalbandian is desperate to again reach Shanghai, where he stunned Federer in a comeback fifth set of the final. He moved past fallen fellow contenders Tommy Robredo and James Blake onto sixth in the provisional standings. Safin was looking for his first Masters Series final four since winning Madrid and Paris back-to-back two years ago. A knee injury which kept him out for more than six months prevented him from playing 12 months ago. In later quarter-finals, Federer was playing American Robby Ginepri while defending champion Nadal was playing Czech Tomas Berdych. |